“If Toyota promotes the safety of its automobiles in its advertising, it must have sound engineering data to back it up” said Suthers. “Further, Toyota has agreed to change its corporate culture regarding disclosure of safety issues and the company may now move forward with this matter behind it.”

The states alleged Toyota engaged in unfair and deceptive practices when it failed to timely disclose known safety defects with accelerator pedals. The investigating State Attorneys General determined poor communication between Toyota’s nerve center in Japan and Toyota’s United States holdings were partially responsible for the company’s failure to timely report known safety issues.

During settlement negotiations, emphasis was placed on ensuring changes in the corporate culture and corporate chain of command to enhance Toyota’s responsiveness to regulatory agencies in the United States. As a result, Toyota agreed to significantly change the safety culture within the company’s United States operations. Toyota will ensure that its U.S. officials and officers have timely access to information and the authority to fully participate in all decisions affecting the safe operation of Toyota vehicles advertised and sold domestically. The requested culture and chain of command changes will also improve safety issue related to communication between Toyota’s holdings in the United States and Toyota’s other global holdings.

Consumers who believe they are entitled to refunds should contact Toyota: 1-800-331-4331 and Lexus: 1-800-255-3987 directly. The lines are staffed from 6:00 AM - 7:00 PM MST Monday through Friday, and on Saturdays from 8:00 AM - 5:00 PM MST.

• Prohibited from reselling a vehicle it reacquired with alleged safety defects without informing the purchaser about the alleged defect(s) and certifying that the reacquired vehicle was fixed.• Prohibited from misrepresenting the purpose of an inspection or repair when directing consumers to bring their vehicles to a dealer for inspection or repair, and• Required to exclude from the “Toyota Certified Used Vehicles” or “Lexus Certified Pre-Owned Vehicles” categories any vehicle acquired through lemon law proceedings or voluntarily repurchased by Toyota to ensure customer satisfaction.

The New Jersey Attorney General’s Office led the investigation along with the Attorneys General from Connecticut, Florida, Louisiana, Michigan, Nevada, Ohio, South Carolina and Washington. The following states and U.S. territory participated in today’s settlement: Alabama, American Samoa, Arizona, Arkansas, Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Nebraska, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, North Carolina, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, Washington and Wisconsin.